This page was updated in January 2021
What’s the plan?
Below are two versions of Highways England’s timetable for expressway development. The first, larger one has all the details, including how each stage is officially named. The second is more user-friendly and without a detailed timeline.
Where are we now in the timetable?
Winter 2019 was the ‘Options Phase’, between ‘Option identification’ and ‘Option Selection. ‘Option identification’ included the selection of the preferred corridor which was announced in September 2018, and work to filter and select a shortlist of route options. Following this, there should have been the first public consultation process, in late 2019, and then a further year during which Highways England selected the single ‘best’ route for the expressway, followed by a further statutory consultation. Then the preferred route would have moved into the Development phase, for detailed design work, and submission to the Planning Inspectorate for a Development Consent Order (DCO) – essentially formal approval to go ahead with building the expressway. All of this should have happened, and construction started, by 2025 for completion by 2030.
However, the ‘Autumn 2019 Routes consultation’ was delayed by the December 2019 elections and the expressway was officially paused in March 2020. There have been no further official announcements about the expressway since, although we expect a further statement on the proposals, and the possibility of alternative road improvement schemes, early in 2021.
We will update this part of our website as new information becomes available.